I finished the new season. I feel like they were really clicking at the end there, like the growing pains were starting to resolve -- they weren't trying to cram quite so many riffs in, and I could tell Baron and Jonah's voices apart. I'm interested in seeing where they go from here.

Meanwhile, Rifftrax has its annual Kickstarter going; this year's live shows will be Space Mutiny and Krull.

Kick in at $1 and you get at least two shorts; they'll add another one every 200 backers, up to 10.

The episodes are still listed in a completely baffling and inexplicable order. It's not chronological, it's not based on popularity (Manos is in between Girl in Gold Boots and Catalina Caper), it doesn't alternate Joel-Mike-Joel-Mike, and it doesn't follow the order of the DVD releases, so my current working theory is that the episodes are sorted based on the "nobody gave a fuck" algorithm.

Regardless, there's some good shit in there. And given that there are nearly 200 episodes in the original series, there are still a lot of them I haven't seen. And of course thanks to the constant churn of movie rights, the list of legally-available episodes is constantly in flux, so watch 'em while you can.

(On the subject of not-legally-available episodes, has anyone ever managed to find a rip of the Godzilla vs. Megalon DVD? I've looked but I've only ever found crummy VHS rips. ...shit, I bet I've still got a VHS copy around here somewhere; I should see if mine's in any better shape than the digital copies I've seen up to this point.

Same with Fire Maidens from Outer Space and anything else I've got that's not commercially available. I should really go through these tapes before they deteriorate completely.)

372 Pages We'll Never Get Back is basically a Rifftrax Book Club podcast, wherein Conor Lastowka and Mike Nelson read and discuss a book. Season 1 is Ready Player One.

I've listened to the intro episode and Episode 1, and I think I'll stick with it even though I haven't read the book and have no intention of doing so. I think I'd probably get more out of it if I'd actually read it, but their summaries and excerpts are enough to follow along.

I have also learned that my dog does not give a fuck when people on the car stereo say her name.

The most important detail: they're tweaking the format somehow to be a better fit for Netflix and binge-watching; Joel hasn't shared the details except that it's only going to be 6 episodes this time around.

New MST3K tour starts in October. Joel will be riffing alongside Jonah and the Bots. They're doing Deathstalker (the first one; M&tB did the third one back in season 7) and The Brain.

Joel also adds this in a recent public Kickstarter update, to mollify fans who were worried about that 6-episode order and the comments about making the show more "binge-friendly":

For those of you who are concerned about our decision to shoot a shorter season, or to make the episodes more "binge-friendly," I hope you'll keep an open mind. We're not changing the style of the show, or dumbing it down, or making concessions. We’re just having some fun with the format, and this new season, and the way it’s structured. We love this season’s lineup of movies. In fact, I honestly think that this could be our best season yet. Also, I suspect that season 12 is going to be the best opportunity yet for you to invite your friends and family to get into the show, if they haven’t already!

And you know, if you don't want to binge, you don't have to – the show will be just as good if you watch one episode at a time. I guess all I was trying to say in the last update is, the world of television has changed a lot in the last 30 years, and we think there are some neat ways for Mystery Science Theater 3000 to have fun with that. You’ll see.

But yeah, for those of you worried because we're "only" making six new episodes, I promise, there's nothing to panic about, so repeat to yourself: "I should really just relax." Shorter seasons don't mean we're going to make fewer episodes, they just mean we're going to make fewer at a time! And like I said last week, that also means we should be able to get them out sooner, and not make you wait so long in between seasons. It’s also, we feel, the best way to help grow the MST3K community – and obviously, that's a really important goal so that the show can keep on having a long and productive life.

I've also seen some of the theories that have popped up since our last update, but you don't need to worry: we're not planning to end the show again after this season. As you know, we’re so happy to have the show back and we’re looking forward to continuing for as long as we can! I also want you to know that Netflix hasn’t forced us to change anything about MST3K, or make creative concessions. They’re actually really enthused about the show.

Also, if anything, my feeling is that being able to shoot shorter seasons is way better for the creative life of the show, and I hope you’ll agree when you see the new season.

I can see why fans were worried about the "6 episodes" comment. In addition to panic being the natural state of Internet fandom, there's also the precedent that the last time MST3K got a 6-episode order, it was followed by cancellation and then resumption on another network with major casting changes. Plus, Joel's "Gee, I guess the kids are into this binge-watching thing now?" comments feel a little "How do you do, fellow kids?"

But there are a lot of potential positives here, too. Last week's update made a pretty good point that, while the show should of course not base itself entirely around whatever the fandom is saying at the moment, there's been some good feedback on season 11 that should lead to improvements in season 12, and shorter seasons with quicker turnaround mean more time for people to watch the show and give feedback about what works and what doesn't.

Joel wrote:That's right, y’all: for this very special anniversary tour, I'm pleased to tell you that Joel Robinson will be returning to the Satellite of Love. I'm back in the red jumpsuit, and this time around, I'll be riffing live on stage, shoulder-to-shoulder with Jonah, Crow, Tom Servo and Gypsy. We had such a wonderful time last summer, meeting so many of you in person, that we wanted to do it again as soon as we could. And having Joel Robinson return to riff after 25 years seemed like the perfect way to celebrate MST3K’s anniversary with you!

It feels very much like a Joel project, in that it throws a lot of stuff at the wall and a lot of it comes out feeling like it's unnecessary and doesn't quite work but it's nonetheless really fascinating.

I haven't decided how I feel about it overall yet. Some of the riffs are pretty good, the writers (Harold Buchholz, Joel, Matt McGinnis, Seth Robinson, Sharyl Volpe, and Mary Robinson) do a solid job of capturing the characters' voices (to the point that I can tell just from dialogue that I'm reading Baron Vaughn Servo, not Kevin Murphy Servo), and it's damned interesting. I'm not quite sure it all comes together, but I'm glad I picked it up.

I can probably get a blog post out of this, but it might require some effort taking pages from the comic (and probably the original PD comic it riffs). Might write more later.

The Turkey Day Marathon will start four days early this year, on Sunday the 18th, so as not to overlap with the release of the new season on Thanksgiving Day.

(And apparently they're going to be running MST3K on that page all month, but that's not the same thing as the Turkey Day Marathon. Not sure if they'll be running the TDM through multiple times or not.)

Oh man, I've never seen Moon Zero Two (largely because the season one eps I've seen before have been less than spectacular) and I love it. It starts out like a Pink Panther movie, then it turns into 2001, and then it becomes a western with a Bond villain, and the whole thing's got an early-'70s big band jazz soundtrack.